Cisco VXI vs Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) comparison

Cisco and Citrix are both solutions in the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) category. Cisco is ranked #22, while Citrix is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.7. Cisco holds a 0.9% mindshare in VD, compared to Citrix’s 14.2% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 93% of Citrix users who would recommend it.

Cisco VXI

Read 1 Cisco VXI review

448 Views
448 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Citrix DaaS (formerly Citri...

Read 128 Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) reviews

10,540 Views
7,905 Comparison Views

93% willing to recommend

Cisco VXI

Citrix DaaS (formerly Citri...

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Cisco VXI and Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Citrix, Broadcom, Omnissa and others in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI).

To learn more, read our detailed Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Report (Updated: April 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

April 2026

Download the complete report

Helped 886,510 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Cisco VXI

Ranking in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

22nd

Average Rating

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Citrix DaaS (formerly Citri...

Ranking in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

1st

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.5

Number of Reviews

128

Ranking in other categories

Application Virtualization (1st), Remote Access (4th), Desktop as a Service (DaaS) (1st)

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2026, in the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) category, the mindshare of Cisco VXI is 0.9%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) is 14.2%, up from 9.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service)	14.2%
Cisco VXI	0.9%
Other	84.9%

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

Featured Reviews

Sina Ghozati

Technical Solution Specialist at Arrow Electronics

Straightforward implementation, scalable, but performance could improve

When using Cisco VXI in virtual environments there tends to be a lot of bugs with files you have to deploy across the virtual environment. You configure for hours, and then there is a bug that stops you, and you notice that you wasted hours. There's always room for improvement with these virtual environments because you're not dealing with the actual equipment, you're dealing with a virtual version of it that you have to install in a virtual environment. The performance of Cisco VXI could improve. It requires a lot of hardware and even if you install it on a server it is heavy on resources.

Read full review

Sorin Neacsu

Technical Lead on Virtual Desktop at Orange

Has delivered consistent desktop experiences across remote locations and has supported multimedia workloads efficiently

I have utilized the HDX protocol for compression and audio-video capabilities. When users need to conduct meetings with customers or colleagues, they can use Teams solutions and open a bridge where video and audio are encapsulated within the ICA protocol, which is protected by SSL and certificates for security. This provides secure communication at good quality through the HDX protocol. HDX protocol has improved application performance as it is specifically designed for multimedia applications. If processing audio or video files, such as in telecom where discussions are recorded and then prepared as video or audio, this does not consume excessive bandwidth during the operation compared to a normal remote desktop connection provided by Microsoft. Everything is compressed and provides sufficient bandwidth for multiple people to perform similar tasks without interruption or session disconnection. All multimedia-related activities, such as playing content on YouTube, deliver a better experience with this protocol overall. I use multi-factor authentication for opening sessions to the data center where users access their machines or software. Multi-factor authentication has helped secure applications because users typically have two-way authentication software on their phones. They use a password first and then authenticate themselves through their mobile application to grant access to resources. This approach is effective because if a hacker attacks a user, they need more than just the password and username. They must also possess the device that provides authentication. The device typically has facial recognition, a password, and provides better security overall.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"The solution has been doing a good job for us."

"The initial setup of Cisco VXI is straightforward."

"For our company's customers, I feel that the product is stable."

"Citrix XenDesktop is a great solution for VDI or virtual desktop environments."

"The shadow feature is extraordinary and helps a lot when supporting remote users."

"It has the best remote working features."

"The solution has been in production for three years with no major problems; zero down time from the solution."

"The most valuable feature is the ability to connect to our on-premise applications, through the Workspace app and the Workspace experience. The user experience when using the solution's technology remotely is good. Our users are able to work and it's seamless. The performance is also good."

"The architecture I built had a robust failover mechanism for the endpoints, and the interface was user-friendly."

"The ease of access and the confidentiality and security that it provides is what we like best."

More Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) pros

Cons

"When using Cisco VXI in virtual environments there tends to be a lot of bugs with files you have to deploy across the virtual environment."

"When using Cisco VXI in virtual environments there tends to be a lot of bugs with files you have to deploy across the virtual environment. You configure for hours, and then there is a bug that stops you, and you notice that you wasted hours."

"Users have some trouble adjusting to the Receiver interface, but other than that, everything has been very easy."

"Dependency on server virtualization after v7.x is an issue which I encountered in small environments."

"They need to adapt more quickly to the latest additions to the Microsoft operating system. If Windows 10 comes out with a new version, there are compatibility issues and it takes them a lot of time to release an update."

"We have had issues with certain aspects, which is why we are looking for alternatives. For example, the firewall solution from Citrix is a bit complicated. Integration is hard."

"We're running into all kinds of speed issues and reliability issues. There are frequent disconnects, and we're not sure whether that's a problem with the product, with the way the product has been deployed, or with server capacity or bandwidth. Our IT department pays attention to that, but we are feeling the impact of that."

"Tech support is pretty good. My only complaint is that if you are calling in a ticket, you need to know who is answering the call."

"The user profiles could use some improvement. They could use more stability and more functionality as well as user profile redirection."

"Integration with other vendors could be improved."

More Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is an expensive solution when there are bugs. I'm always ready to give money for a complete solution where there are no bugs in it, but you will never find it."

"We have more than a million seats under management so we get the best price."

"The licensing is $125 USD per user."

"If you look at cost, then you must look at the number of users that you are covering. If you are only using it for some users, then it is very expensive. However, if you have a massive amount of users, then it begins to be interesting to use Citrix. Because once you are managing thousands of servers with one guy, your maintenance costs decrease per user."

"A perpetual enterprise license costs approximately $300 USD."

"I think it is a little high priced."

"It is a bit costly, but enterprise class features come with a cost."

"We are seeing a return on investment with Citrix Workspace."

"The price of Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops is approximately $300 for the new version called Dash and the license is approximately $900 annually."

More Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

886,510 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

No data available

Computer Software Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

Performing Arts

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	44
Midsize Enterprise	21
Large Enterprise	69

Questions from the Community

Ask a question

Earn 20 points

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops?

I rate the product’s pricing a seven out of ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops?

I have found that Citrix DaaS is still a complex product, especially on the desktop side, which affects scalability. Although it works well on the apps side, the desktop aspect still has room for i...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops?

The entire development environment is accessed only through the virtual desktop setup using Citrix DaaS.

See all answers

Comparisons

Horizon 8 vs Cisco VXI

Compared 24% of the time

VMware Workstation vs Cisco VXI

Compared 18% of the time

NComputing vSpace vs Cisco VXI

Compared 15% of the time

Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops vs Cisco VXI

Compared 10% of the time

Inuvika vs Cisco VXI

Compared 7% of the time

More Cisco VXI Competitors

Azure Virtual Desktop vs Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service)

Compared 31% of the time

Horizon 8 vs Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service)

Compared 4% of the time

Microsoft Remote Desktop Services vs Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service)

Compared 4% of the time

Amazon Appstream vs Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service)

Compared 3% of the time

Rocket Exceed TurboX vs Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service)

Compared 3% of the time

More Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

April 2026

Download Cisco VXI product report

Buyer's Guide

Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service)

April 2026

Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) report

Download Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) product report

Also Known As

VXI

XenDesktop, XenApp (Citrix Virtual Apps), Citrix Workspace

Interactive Demo

Demo not available

Cisco

Citrix

Overview

Cisco Virtualization Experience Infrastructure (VXI) is an end-to-end systems approach that delivers the next generation virtual workspace by unifying virtual desktops, voice, and video. It helps IT provide an exceptionally flexible and secure converged infrastructure for an uncompromised user experience.

Cisco

Enable secure, flexible work with the leader in virtual apps and desktops

Deliver desktop as a service (DaaS) from any cloud or datacenter

Get started with Citrix DaaS (formerly Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops service) in minutes to provide a familiar, high-performance digital workspace experience to your users. We’ll manage the infrastructure and security. You focus on your business.

Citrix

Sample Customers

Advanced Medical Transport, Artoni Transporti, Calligaris, CIPCO, Citrix, Comcast, Desktone, Electricity Authority of Cyprus, Grupo Industrial Saltillo (GIS), LightEdge, Management Science Associates, Molina Healthcare, North West Redwater, Outscale

Exelon, Aeronamic, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Alameda County Medical Center, Alaska Department of Fish & Game, Aloysius Stichting, Amarchand Mangaldas, AmBev, Amnet Technology Solutions, Arval

Buyer's Guide

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

April 2026

Download Free Report

Find out what your peers are saying about Citrix, Broadcom, Omnissa and others in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI). Updated: April 2026.

DOWNLOAD NOW

886,510 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our list of best Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) vendors.

We monitor all Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.